At a workers’ meeting last night (November 15) local Conservative Member of Parliament Anne-Marie Trevelyan confirmed that she had written to TV celebrity chef Delia Smith – who has featured Jus-Rol pasty in some of her most popular recipes – urging her to speak up for the workers.
“We are not taking this lying down,” Trevelyan told local newspaper The Chronicle. “We are going to fight this tooth and nail and see if we can prove to them that staying in Berwick is the right thing for them to do in the long term.”
‘Immersed in private projects’
But a spokesman for the UK’s best selling cookery author, with sales of 21M, told ITV News Tyne Tees that the star was “immersed in private projects”.
According to the statement from the publicist: “She [Delia] has asked me to explain to all incoming requests that for the next months, she is completely immersed in private projects (as well as her cookery school on her website). So, I am disappointing a lot of people but hope you will understand.”
Trevelyan also disclosed that she had discussed the proposed closure with Prime Minister David Cameron and business minister Sajid Javid.
General Mills announced plans last month to close the Tweedmouth factory, which produces Betty Crocker mixes and frozen and chilled dough products.
A spokesman for General Mills told FoodManufacture.co.uk today (November 16) the business was unable to comment on the recent meeting due to the continuing consultation process.
In its October announcement General Mills said: “The proposal is subject to consultation with union officials and employee representatives, which could lead to the closure of the site by the autumn of 2016.”
‘Excess capacity’
A spokeswoman said that a regional review had revealed the business need to consolidate production to address “excess capacity” in its UK baking business.
Meanwhile, a petition to persuade General Mills to retain the production site has attracted more than 1,500 signatures.
The petition website warned: “Products are being transferred to another plant in Europe. This comes after a year in which profits were up and Jus-Rol were the best performing factory within their group. If the closure goes ahead it will destroy this small community.”